Mayor Admits Project Mistake : Thousand Oaks: He says residents were not notified about a proposed Circuit City store, now under construction.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Robert E. Lewis has admitted that the city made a mistake when it failed to notify homeowners about a proposal to build a Circuit City store that has drawn fire from neighboring residents.

“It’s obvious that none of those residences within the homeowners associations got much notice,” Lewis told an audience of about 100 people during a rowdy, five-hour meeting Tuesday night. “I agree. It should have been appealed, and it wasn’t.”

Lewis and Councilwoman Judy Lazar, who make up the council’s planning issues committee, called the meeting to hear from critics who say the Circuit City project has no place in Thousand Oaks.

The half-finished Circuit City building unleashed a flood of protests last month, when residents noticed workers erecting 40-foot-tall, cinder-block walls at Lynn Road and Hillcrest Drive.

City officials, however, have said they have no legal authority to stop development. The committee took no action to respond to requests to halt the development.

Lewis, Lazar and three critics of the project are scheduled to meet today with representatives of the appliance and electronics chain in an attempt to resolve the dispute. The council will review the issue again Sept. 1.

At Tuesday’s meeting, 32 speakers accused the council members of allowing Circuit City to violate the city’s architectural and scenic highway standards. Some said the building should be razed.

“The people have lost faith in you. They feel you’ve stabbed them in the back on this one,” said Manny Ferrara, a spokesman for Concerned Citizens of Thousand Oaks, the group that launched the protest.

Ferrara said he and other leaders of the group would not consider legal action until after the meeting with Circuit City.

Circuit City officials were not available for comment. But city officials said that with its clay-tile roof and earth-tone exterior, the 23,800-square-foot building would resemble many existing department stores and commercial buildings in Thousand Oaks. One tower rises 43 feet, but most of the building will be under 30 feet.

City planners said the project was never scheduled for council review because it met all codes and did not require special permits or waivers.

“Circuit City has met our standards,” Lazar said.

Residents in Lynn Ranch, the housing tract nearest the Circuit City store, said the building is situated at one of the most scenic gateways to Thousand Oaks.

Some complained that they were never notified of the plan before it was approved in January by the Planning Commission. There are about 640 houses in Lynn Ranch, but the city mailed only seven letters to residents and homeowners associations on the commission’s public hearing.

The city was not legally obliged to notify landowners whose properties are more than 300 feet from the store. City officials admit that the notification process was flawed and should be changed.

“You knew it was sensitive,” resident Lynn Bickle said. “I, for one, am ashamed of you. Come back to the people. You’ve forgotten who elected you.”

Art Kell, another resident, called the building a monstrosity.

“The people are incensed,” he said. “We just want to know what can be done.”

Throughout the evening, some speakers jeered at the two council members. In exchanges with speakers, Lewis and Lazar angrily denied accusations that council members were bribed by Circuit City.

“I resent the implication that someone was paid off,” Lazar said. “Because you see one thing you don’t like, you think the process has been subverted.”

After the meeting, a distressed Lazar wiped away tears as she tried to persuade a resident that she would not knowingly keep residents in the dark.

“We were foolish not to post that property (with signs). I really believe in citizen involvement,” she said later. “A lot of people would like to see nothing there at all. That sounds good, but I think that’s highly unlikely.”